Visions of the Future
by Quills and Inkwells
Summary: A sequel series of one-shots to A Tree Called Life, dictating the life and times of the Mikaelson Family. Featuring Klaroline, Kalijah, Kennett, and eventually Rebekah/OC. Rated T for language and content. Please note: it is probably necessary to read ATCL first to understand these one-shots, as previous events will be referenced on occasion.
1. they're not gonna take it

**Title:** _they're not gonna take it_

**Timeframe:** One week after the end of ATCL

**Characters: **Katherine, Caroline, Rebekah, Bonnie, and a brief appearance by the Mikaelbroes at the end

* * *

"Forbes, you do realize that you don't have to throw me a goodbye party _every_ time, right?" Katherine rolled her eyes as they all sat down in a private seating area at one of New Orleans' hottest clubs.

"It's my going-away party too!" Bonnie pointed out. "Kol and I are leaving before you and Elijah, if you want to get technical."

Caroline rolled her eyes and cut them off. "This is a going-away party for the both of you, as well as a pre-birthday celebration for Bonnie, and a first-time-in-a-club party for Bonnie and I. Therefore, cut it out, you two."

"Great. So I'm the only one without a reason for being here?" Rebekah sniped, sliding in next to them at their table.

"You're here for moral support and because you're our friend. Ergo, order a drink and look like you actually know how to have fun." The other blonde smiled in that bitchy way she had perfected, causing the Original to roll her eyes.

"You're also here to get laid." Katherine interjected. "What?"

"What is your obsession with getting me to have sex?" Rebekah asked, probably a bit too loudly. "It's kind of weird."

"You're single. I'm not. I like to man-hunt, but now that I'm single and not…fangy anymore, I can't even do it for the food. So, I'll do all of the scouting for you, and just direct you towards the ready and willing victims." Katherine said all of this as though it was obvious.

"It's not a bad deal." Caroline shrugged. "Plus, the guys here are kind of cute… "

"You're both so strange." Rebekah sighed.

"I never thought I would say this, but I agree with her." Bonnie said.

"You know what? We're getting shots." Caroline scoffed. "And no more pouting! Out of anyone!"

"Yes, your Majesty." Katherine laughed, causing the other three to follow.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A few rounds of shots and one nasty, frilly, pink drink that Rebekah had insisted they all try because she liked the name later, they were all out on the dance floor. The four ladies twisted and turned to the booming music, a spectacle of gorgeousness on the crowded floor.

"Don't look now, but we're getting attention from over there." Bonnie surreptitiously nodded towards a group of attractive guys, all in or around their mid-twenties. Of course, the other three turned and stared.

"Not bad, though I've seen better." Katherine shrugged. "Much better…" Her red lips curved into a smirk.

"Oh my god, get your head out of the gutter." Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I really _don't _want to hear about your fantasies about my brother!"

"Darling, I don't need fantasies." The former laughed, tossing her curls over one shoulder. While flirting with other people may be against the rules of monogamy, relishing in the attention everyone paid you was not. "I am _so_ looking forward to France. Our chateau, all to ourselves, for weeks on end… It's going to be marvelous."

"Kol apparently owns an island out in the Pacific, so that's where we're heading first." Bonnie said, a smug look on her face.

Katherine arched an eyebrow, considering the possibilities put in front of her. "Island sex. I approve, Bon-Bon. And I'm strangely proud."

"Katherine Pierce approves of me. Now I can die in peace." Bonnie replied sarcastically.

"Once things settle down here, and Lou-Lou's a teeny bit older, Klaus and I have plans to go on a world tour. I've already made a list of destinations." Caroline laughed. "Though, right now I'm enjoying just settling into us as a couple, and not just…us."

Rebekah sighed. "This conversation is reminding me of how utterly single I am."

"I saw the looks you were giving that Scottish guy. He was seriously hot, and I happen to know that he's moving here. Go after it." The other blonde said, as if it all was obvious.

"He's got kids. And apparently he lost his wife a couple years ago, and it's all too complicated for me to deal with. It's just…complicated." The Original grumbled. "Look, I need another drink. Anyone want to join me?"

"I saw they have chocolate cocktails… I want to try one of those." Caroline smiled, seeing that Rebekah obviously wanted to change the topic.

"I could go for one." Katherine shrugged.

"I need water." Bonnie crossed her arms, breaking the bubble of chocolate cocktails. She got three unimpressed looks. "Hello? Human, here, albeit an immortal one! I'd like to not be puking in the morning. I can't fix it automatically like you three."

"I pity you." Katherine cocked her head to the side. "Hangovers are a bitch."

-0-0-0-0-0-

After the first round of chocolate cocktails, Rebekah made it her life's mission to get smashed, and Katherine was more than happy to keep shoving various concoctions under her nose. Caroline and Bonnie had flitted between their friends at the bar and the dance floor, coming back every so often to take a breather. It was on said dance floor, however, that they got into a little confrontation.

"You can remove your hand from my ass, thank you very much." Bonnie turned around, glaring. The guy behind her was from the same group that she had seen eyeing them earlier, and he was admittedly attractive. Caroline stepped forward, feeling a guy press himself up against her from behind.

"Sorry, babe, but I can't control myself around your beauty." The man said.

"I have a boyfriend. Back off." Bonnie shot back.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Caroline almost snorted in laughter as she and Bonnie exchanged unimpressed looks at the guy's reply.

"Bon-Bon, Caroline, are these men bothering you?" Katherine sauntered over, a slightly-less-buzzed Rebekah behind her. "Because I would hate to have to unleash my wrath upon them."

"Honey, you can unleash your _wrath_ on me any time." The man who had come up behind Caroline looked Katherine up-and-down and wiggled his eyebrows, causing Rebekah to burst out in laughter, and the other three to just stare awkwardly.

"I think that was an invitation." The brunette mused. "Should I go through with it?" She turned to Caroline. "You need training in the art anyways." Katherine chose her words carefully, purposefully making it seem as if she was talking about something other than torture.

"I don't know… I really hate cleanup." Caroline sighed. "It's so messy."

"I'm drunk. I want to go back to the manor." Rebekah blurted out, crossing her arms.

"Wait, a manor?" The first guy asked.

"You're not coming with any of us, so don't even think about it." Bonnie snapped. "I agree with Rebekah. I have an early flight tomorrow."

"Toodles, boys!" Katherine waved, as her friends walked off the dance floor and back to grab their things. "Have fun by yourself tonight! Because, let's be honest, with those cheesy pickup lines and that subpar attire, you're not getting any."

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Ahhh, they're back." Kol looked up from his book. "Then again, I could smell the scent of cheap booze and the peasant masses from a mile away." The three Mikaelson brothers were gathered in the lounge, all quietly reading. Rebekah moved to a free chair and collapsed in it, her eyes closing.

"You're so charming." Bonnie rolled her eyes. She plopped down on the other end of the sofa and swung her high-heeled feet up into his lap, wiggling them lightly. "Take those blasted things off… They hurt." He rolled his eyes but did as she asked.

"Did you have a good time, love?" Klaus asked as Caroline sat down beside him.

"It was fun!" She smiled. "I tried way too many cocktails, and we danced, and it was a perfect going-away party." Caroline scooted over, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I see Lou's asleep?"

"Temporarily. I expect she'll be up again in a few hours." Klaus said.

Caroline stood, and grabbed his hand, tugging him up. "In that case…" There was a glint in her eyes that made him smirk, and moments later they were gone from the room.

When they arrived, Katherine immediately snatched the book out of Elijah's hands, slid a bookmark in it, and then placed herself in his lap. Her feet dangled over the sides, and to keep upright her arms had to be wrapped around his neck but neither were complaining. "I got your sister drunk."

"I can see that." Elijah looked over at his sister, who was passed out in an armchair. "She will be unpleasant come morning, though we will thankfully be gone."

"Yes." Katherine smiled. "We'll be on our way to France."

* * *

**AN: So...this is the first of the post-ATCL drabble series. I'm hopefully going to update this once a week, though don't hold me to that, as I do have a summer fic going on as well. Anyways, what did you all think?**

**I will admit, this drabble isn't my favorite, but it was the only thing I could really get going in my head, so it happened. Also, please, _please__,_ _please_, send me any prompts or scenes that you wish to see. I've got like...one planned out in my mind, but I'd really, really, love to write these for you readers. So send me as many prompts or scenes as you would like! I'll most likely write them all!**

**Anyways, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!**

**-Abi**


	2. until the stars burn out

**Title: **_until the stars burn out_

**Timeframe: **Undetermined

**Characters: **Klaus and Caroline

**Requested by: **_JuseaPeterson _and _klarolineforever2795_

* * *

"Tell me, Caroline, when did you first know?" It was late in the night—or early in the morning, depending upon how one viewed it—and for both Klaus and Caroline, it had been a hard day. Yet, hard days can often be softened by simply _being_ with the one you love.

"Know what?" She asked, tucking a hand underneath her pillow.

He gave her a look as he slid into his side of their bed. "I pursued you for nearly a year in Mystic Falls. Clearly something changed during your time here, in New Orleans. So, tell me, when did you know you felt the same?" Klaus brushed a bit of her hair back from her face, the golden curls fanning across her pillow.

Caroline let out a contented sigh. "It's more complex than just realizing I had feelings for you. I… There's a lot of pressure in this relationship. Not exactly from you or your family, but there are expectations. I wanted to be absolutely sure that this was it for me before entering into…us." She yawned, scooting up on the bed, reclining on the multitude of pillows. She had always had a fondness for pillows. "I felt something back in Mystic Falls, shortly after you left. It was more than just the attraction between us, and occasionally emotional moments we had had before, and it scared me. I was supposed to be Tyler's happy girlfriend, not feeling intense things for another man. Anyways, I pushed it away for a while. Even when coming down here, I attempted to suppress my feelings. I was going to get Katherine cured and give her a happily ever after, and then I was going to go back to my life."

"But then you fell in love with New Orleans." Klaus said. "You told me once that you were going to stay no matter what."

"I fell in love with New Orleans." Caroline smiled, agreeing. She reached over and took his hand, playing with his fingers. "And we became friends. Real friends. You became someone I could count on with all I had, and I could tell it was mutual." The lady laid her head on her partner's shoulder. "I can't give you an exact time, because I don't know one, but I can tell you that I knew for sure that I was completely and utterly in love at Rebekah's birthday party. We… You got me all flustered and irritated like usual, and I walked off. And I remember looking back and thinking 'I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him'." Caroline grinned, placing a light kiss on Klaus's jawline. "When did you know you loved me?"

Caroline did not get her answer for a moment, as she was flipped onto her back, Klaus capturing her lips in a deep kiss as he hovered over her. "When I let you go." He brushed an errant piece of hair out of her face, kissing her once more. "I have never loved someone enough to set them free from me, Caroline. And then you blew into my miserable existence, full of light and defiance. I could not find it in myself to keep you as I did my siblings."

"So you left town. And left me to be with another man."

"It was what you needed at the time." He agreed.

"I love you." She laughed. Caroline flipped them over once more so she was on top, and peppered his face with kisses, the stubble on his cheeks scratching her face lightly.

* * *

**AN: Yes, I know, it's short, but it's adorably fluffy, so tell me what you thought!**

**I know a lot of you wanted Caroline and Klaus to talk during ATCl about their status, so I sort of translated that to here, and people wanted more solo couples, so this happened! Anyways, I've been working on a longer oneshot about Caroline and Bonnie, so hopefully that will be up soon enough. I also have plans for Kalijah, but as I'm *cough* spoiler alert *cough* working on their prequel story, I'm not sure how soon I'll get their drabbles up. **

**So sorry for the long wait, but I just got back from summer camp yesterday, and my muse has been gone a lot lately. Hopefully I'll be updating sooner from now on! **

**-Abi**


	3. back to the start

**Title: **_back to the start_

**Timeframe: **Five months after the end of ATCL

**Characters: **The Mystic Falls Gang, along with a brief appearance by Klaus and Kol

**Requested by: **Lawsy89

* * *

"You promise you and Lou will follow us in a couple of days?" Caroline asked. They were out on the tarmac of the airport, and she and Bonnie were waiting to board one of the three Mikaelson jets. Bonnie and Kol had been back from their tour of the Pacific Islands for about a month, and both ladies were heading back to their hometown to get the last of their things.

"_Contessa_ and I," She rolled her eyes when Klaus emphasized his child's proper name, as the given name vs. nickname thing had been a battle between them, "will be along as soon as the nanny gets back from vacation. I assume Kol will tag along as well, judging by his current lovesick status." Klaus raised an eyebrow at his younger brother, who appeared to be making up for what would be lost time with the Bennett witch. Their actions could be so indecent at times.

Caroline scoffed and took Contessa from his arms, giving the four-month old a butterfly kiss or three. "Don't listen to your daddy… He's just as lovesick as your crazy uncle." While she was not quite in a state of motherhood with Contessa or Lou-Lou yet—whichever they called her, as it changed on a daily basis—she did enjoy the baby. She was awfully adorable, after all, and Caroline knew she would miss the child. "Now, princess, be good, and help your Auntie Bekah keep the boys in line."

"Something tells me she is on my side, and not my sister's, love." Klaus took his daughter back, and handed the baby to her personal hybrid guard before turning back to Caroline. He pulled her towards him, an arm around her waist, their faces nearly touching.

"I'm going to miss you." She said softly. "I know it's only going to be a few days, but this is technically the longest we'll have been away from each other in nearly seven months, and, well, I'll miss you a lot. So, you better hurry your ass up to Mystic Falls, got it?" Caroline poked him in the chest, a mix of teasing and serious.

"My return—as well as yours, for that matter—is going to rock the boat, sweetheart. Are you prepared for this?" Klaus studied her face, finding no secrets in her expression. To be honest, he was concerned about how her friends, and the town in general, would take their return. With a child, no less. Many would assume she left because she was pregnant; at least those who still believed she was human would. He knew Mystic Falls, and he was aware that there would be a stigma to follow her because of him. It was exactly the thing he had never wanted for her.

"Stop doing the thinking that you're doing." She said, looping her arms around his neck. "I'm prepared for any fall-out which may happen, and I will be perfectly fine. Your job is to bring Lou-Lou, be polite to my mother and the rest of the town, and look smashing in a suit, because the Historical Society is hosting their yearly fundraiser, and we're going. Got it?"

"I believe I am more than capable of accomplishing said tasks." The Hybrid whispered, before soundly kissing his love. When they finally pulled apart, Caroline was breathless, and torn between wanting to smack him for leaving her hanging like that, or kissing Klaus again. She settled for the latter.

"Alright, break it up, you two. We can't scar my darling niece yet, now can we?" Kol drawled.

"Plus, we need to leave if we want to make it by dinner, Care." Bonnie cut in, smiling at her best friend.

"You do realize that my mother's probably working the night shift, right?" The blonde picked up her bags after kissing her partner one more time.

"She's worked the night shift since you were eleven, so yes, I was aware of that." Bonnie shot back. Caroline was sure that Kol was rubbing off on her, because Bonnie's sarcasm was through the roof these days. "Which is why I called up Elena, and we're having a reunion dinner at the Boarding House."

"Yay!" Caroline clapped her hands. "It'll be so fantastic to see everyone!" The Mikaelson brothers exchanged looks, but let it go. She looked at her phone, before sliding it back into her back pocket. "Okay, Bon, you're right. We seriously need to get going. Especially considering we're going to need to drop everything off at the mansion before heading to the Boarding House. You have the keys?"

"Got them!" Bonnie nodded. "Do we really need the battalion of guards you're sending with us? It seems a little ridiculous."

"The guards go with you. You aren't wiggling your way out of that one, darling." Kol said, deadly serious. There was a vampire and a hybrid designated for each lady, and they were slightly disgruntled at having to bring them along.

"You're paranoid." She shot back. "I can take care of myself."

"I'm not willing to leave that up to chance. Do your guards a favor, and don't attempt to ditch them, either. The consequences for even a scratch on either of you is not pleasant." The Original said. He gave Bonnie one more passionate kiss, before pulling away, and brushing a piece of errant hair away. It had grown out to shoulder length by now, and she had taken to wearing it in loose curls.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with your chaotic tendencies." Bonnie shook her head fondly.

"We both know why, darling." Kol winked, earning him and eye roll and a bright smile.

A bit away from the couple, Klaus and Caroline were saying their second round of goodbyes, before finally separating. "Alright, Bon, let's go!" The blonde smiled. With that, both women hefted their purses up, leaving the luggage for their guards, and headed up the stairs and into the plane. They soon grabbed seats, and settled in for the three hour flight.

"Do you think they're all going to be surprised?" Caroline asked. "We both appear different, after all. And it's not just the slightly adjusted styles, or the fact that I got you in a pair of wedges without killing someone. It's just…" She trailed off, not sure how to phrase her thoughts.

"We carry ourselves differently." Bonnie finished. "It's only natural; I'm well-adjusted and happy now, and you're an effing Queen." Both burst into giggles, as that little fact was going to be a showstopper at dinner. "Please tell me you brought the album."

"Of course I brought the album. I wasn't going to just bring a few loose pictures. Besides, the photographers were just too fantastic to not show their work off to everyone." Caroline said as if it was obvious.

"And you want everyone to ooh and ahh over your dress." Bonnie raised an eyebrow, giving her best friend one of those looks. They strapped their seatbelts on as the plane began to take off.

"Guilty as charged! Oh, do you… Do you know how you're going to handle the whole Jeremy situation? I mean, in all the pictures I've got, you're clearly with Kol. Like, it's pretty clear in a few that you're _with_ Kol." She raised an eyebrow. "And by that, I mean I've got a picture of you two sucking face while dancing."

"I got your meaning the first time, Care." The brunette said dryly. "And for your information, no, I haven't figured out what to do."

"Might want to start thinking about that."

-0-0-0-0-0-

A few hours later, both ladies had landed in Richmond, and made their way back to Mystic Falls. After a short stop at the Mikaelson Mansion, where they freshened their makeup, dropped bags off, and sent a quick text out to let everyone in NOLA know they arrived, the women headed to the Boarding House.

"You seriously can't just…stand outside?" Caroline asked as they rode in the car with two of the guards, the other two following behind in another vehicle.

"I apologize, milady, but we are under explicit orders from the King to not let you out of our sight unless he is present. A similar order stands for Lady Bonnie." One of the men, Harris, replied formally.

"Very well." She sighed as they pulled up in front of the Boarding House. Damon's Camaro and Stefan's Porsche were both out front, as well as Jeremy's car. "Looks like the whole gang is here, Bon! Except Matt, though you did say he might be late."

"And they're waiting out front." Bonnie deadpanned, seeing everyone pour out the front door, and then stop when the two black SUV's parked. Their expressions only became more confused when—instead of the familiar figures of their friends—it was four intimidating-looking guys instead.

"They're so talking about us." Caroline rolled her eyes. She scooted to the edge of the seat when her other guard, Brodsky, opened the door and helped her down. Bonnie was right behind her, and before they had taken three steps, they were rushed by a flying mass of brown hair and best friend. Unfortunately, Elena did not quite make it to them, as she was detained by one of the other guards.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" In came the pissed-off Damon, stalking towards where his girlfriend was captured.

"What's going on, Care?" Elena asked, kicking the guard in the shins, dangling a good three inches off the ground, her arms trapped by her sides.

"Put her down, Jameson." Caroline said.

"Milady, we were told t—"

"I said to _put her down_. Now, unless you wish to disobey a direct order, I suggest you comply." Her voice—formerly sunny and bubbly—took on a frigid tone, and her blue eyes flashed icy. It was the Queen-voice Caroline had been practicing over the past few months, and it had become very useful. Jameson put Elena down, and then Caroline jumped in to give her a big hug. Bonnie joined in shortly thereafter, and though both could tell their other friend was seriously confused by what had just happened, she had let it go.

"I've missed you two so much!" Elena smiled. "And you're both so grown up!"

"We've missed you, Lena. How've you been?" Bonnie asked as they headed back to the house.

"I've been great, thanks! Once Jer graduates, and since we're going to have to leave eventually, Damon and I are moving to Italy. The Salvatore ancestral lands are there or something." The doppelganger bubbled. It was weird seeing her after spending months with Katherine, but this was still their old friend, no matter the resemblance.

"Two months, and then we're getting the hell out of dodge." Damon glared when he saw the guards follow them. "Why are they here?"

"Bodyguards." Bonnie said simply. "Yes, they have to come in, so don't bother arguing, unless you want your heart on the floor." He simply grunted in response, glaring at said guards.

"Stefan!" Caroline squealed, flashing over towards her mentor and other best friend. She wrapped him in a big hug. "I've missed you so much!"

"Missed you too, Care. Though you could have called more often."

"I was pretty busy." She made a 'guilty' face.

"Yeah, I need to know what your excuses are. I've been left without my best friend for a while with only half-assed reasons for her absence."

"After dinner." Caroline winced. This was harder than she had expected it to be.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Dinner itself was fairly uneventful. Matt had called a few minutes after they sat down and let everyone know he would just have to see them the next day, and the majority of said meal was spent on how everyone in Mystic Falls had fared. Caroline and Bonnie learned that Elena dropped out of Whitmore because of some creepy vampire-hunting society, and that she was on the Town Council now. Jeremy kept going on about his high school life and how fantastic it was in an obvious attempt to impress Bonnie. Needless to say, he failed.

It was after dinner when everything got interesting.

They had all moved into the den, and were sitting together, continuing the idle chatter, when Damon broke the proverbial bubble. "So, Blondie, we all know you skipped town with Kitty Kat to go shack up with Klaus, but there's clearly something else going on."

Bonnie and Caroline had a silent conversation, before the former shrugged. "It's fine with me. I've got nothing to hide."

"I suppose I'll need to back it up a bit if I want to make any sense…" Caroline mused. "Okay, so Katherine was dying from the cure, and in order to get her back to a not-dying state, we needed a witch, and, well, I picked New Orleans. I'm skipping a hell of a lot, but it's not all that important. Anyways, there was a supernatural war going on when we got there, and I needed Bonnie to come to coach the one witch that could do magic without getting her head chopped off." She paused to take a breath. "Either way, a lot of shit happened, we had some really good times, Katherine's alive, Kol's back to life, and everyone's happy."

"What?" Was pretty much the unanimous chorus from everyone in the room.

"You probably should have eased into that one, Care." Bonnie pointed out. "I think you broke them."

"What's up with the bodyguards?" Stefan asked, sipping from a glass of something his brother had handed him. He sent a suspicious look towards the four guards, all of whom were positioned around the room. Harris and Brodsky were monitoring the windows, while Jameson and Daley, the other guard, stood in the foyer.

Caroline simply smiled, and nodded towards Harris. He smirked and answered, "When one is the Queen, one requires protection."

"The queen of what? Sheba?" Stefan raised an eyebrow towards his best friend.

"The Queen of the entire supernatural world, thank you very much. Sheba's a bit small to be considered my kingdom." Caroline laughed teasingly. "Daley, I left my bag in the car. Would you mind getting it?"

"Not at all, milady." He bowed slightly and headed out the door.

"Care, Bon, what on earth?" Elena asked.

"It's really hard to explain, Lena." Bonnie shrugged. "It's been a busy…six months - for me, it's been that long, at least. Our lives have totally changed, and in really good ways. Yeah, we've got things like bodyguards now, but they're really just a formality in case anything happens." No one seemed totally okay with that answer, but things appeared to have relaxed a bit.

"Thank you." Caroline smiled, taking the bag from Daley, who had just returned. She reached inside and pulled out a large white album. "Elena, come sit on my other side. You're going to want to see this."

"You started scrapbooking again, I see." Elena smiled, complying. "I haven't seen you do that since like fifth grade."

"To my credit, this is an album, not a scrapbook." The blonde laughed. She opened up the book, the first page a copy of the invitation, which read:

'_By invitation of the Original Family, you, _, are hereby invited to the coronation of_

_Niklaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes_

_Over the supernatural species by proxy of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana_

_Saint Louis's Cathedral, New Orleans_

_At Four PM, Fourteen January, Two Thousand and Twelve._

_A formal reception follows at six o'clock._'

"I had a team of photographers covering the event, simply because I wanted to remember it for eternity." Everyone else came to gather behind the sofa where the three women sat.

Bonnie scooted over an inch or two when she saw Jeremy come over behind her. This was going to get pretty awkward here in about five minutes when they hit pictures of the ball itself. "And she gave me a copy, and Katherine and Elijah have a copy, and Rebekah's got one somewhere as well."

"There's also two more copies in a safe deposit box, in case something happens to this one." Caroline shrugged. "I'm very thorough." She opened to the next page, which was a bird's-eye-view of the cathedral, when she and Klaus were walking back down the aisle. It showcased the long lace train of her dress, and the majesty of the entire event.

"Is that Klaus in a cape?" Stefan snickered. "You have more control over the guy than I thought."

"Rebekah picked both of our ensembles out." She shrugged, before flipping the page again. The double spread showcased a bunch of photos of Caroline, Katherine, Bonnie, and Rebekah getting ready. They were clad in robes in some, and a few showed them getting buttoned or zipped into elegant gowns.

"You're friends with Rebekah and Katherine?" Elena asked, her voice a tiny bit hurt.

"Surprisingly, they can be really nice when you get to know them." Bonnie said. "Especially when you spend an extensive amount of time living in the same house and all of that. I mean, I'll leave the whole best-friends-for-life role to Caroline, but they can be fun to hang out with."

They quickly skimmed through more pictures of the ceremony. "Did you get hitched, or just get a tiara on your head, Blondie, because I can't really tell." Damon said.

"It was a coronation." Caroline rolled her eyes. "Though my mom did say the same thing."

"So that's where Liz disappeared off to." He raised his eyebrows, shrugging.

"It did look kind of like a wedding, Care." Bonnie pointed out. "And I was up there beside you."

"You look really nice, by the way, Bon." Elena smiled. "Both then and now."

"Thanks, Lena." She smiled, before pursing her lips at the next few pictures. The ball ones were coming up next, which was just _fantastic_. Caroline's announcement of being together with Klaus was no surprise; anyone with eyes and common sense could see something was going to happen one way or another, and their friends had had months to acclimate to the idea. However, she and Kol were an unlikely pairing. There was certain to be backlash of some sort.

"Is that…" Stefan began.

"That, my brother, is the evil bitch herself actually appearing like she's capable of human emotion." Damon finished. They were all looking at a picture of Katherine and Elijah dancing, and her head was thrown back in laughter, her face just so happy. Only his profile was visible, but he appeared to be smiling as well, and it was clear that something had just gone on between them.

"Don't insult the Kalijah. I ship it more hardcore than I ship Spuffy, and that's saying a lot." Caroline glared, beginning to turn the page. However, catching a glimpse of the photographs, she sent a look to Bonnie. Shortly thereafter, the room got a bit more…quiet.

"Damn, Judgy. That's a daring choice in…" Damon started, but trailed off.

"Boyfriend. Partner. Love of my life. Choose one of the above and stick with it." Bonnie shrugged. She smiled, looking at the photograph of her being dipped by Kol, the two of them clearly having an intimate moment. "We're very happy together."

"And by that she means they got back from a three-month stint on a private island in the middle of the Pacific a few weeks ago." Caroline smirked. Bonnie had never been one to divulge much on her private life, but someone had to spill the dirty details. At a PG rating, of course.

"We spent a couple of weeks in Australia, and even ventured as far north as China. Honestly, we didn't spend the _entire_ time on his island." Bonnie rolled her eyes, amused. She knew exactly what Caroline was up to. Her best friend had always been one to get a reaction.

"Seriously, Bonnie?" It appeared Jeremy could not take it anymore, and he exploded. She stood as he walked around the sofa. Neither noticed Caroline holding up a finger to pause Bonnie's guards from interfering, though everyone else in the room clearly did. "What the hell are you thinking? Kol? And I thought that there was still…something here!"

"For a while, I still felt like there was something. But then… I'm sorry, but I fell in love. Really, truly, in love." Bonnie grimaced, hating the fact that she was causing someone she had once loved pain, but at the same time, not regretting a thing. She was happy with Kol. Nothing could change that, and she would not apologize for it. "I don't regret a moment of being with him. I couldn't regret someone that changed my life." She ended her speech with a shrug before turning back to everyone. Jeremy scoffed and stormed out of the Boarding House, grabbing his keys from a hook by the door as he went. Elena appeared to be in deep contemplation, Stefan did not appear to particularly care, and Damon gave her a look that conveyed…_pride_? Then again, he had reminded her before that Jeremy had cheated on her. Maybe Damon hadn't done that to be a dick like she'd thought…

-0-0-0-0-0-

"I cannot wait until they get here." Caroline grumbled, kicking off her heels as she fell onto one of the couches back at the Mikaelson Mansion. She was really missing the army of servants they had back in New Orleans too, right now. "Is it pathetic that I miss him already?"

"If you're pathetic, then so am I." Bonnie laughed, taking a chair. "It's just two days, though. We'll be fine."

Caroline nodded, laying her head on the armrest as she stretched out on the couch. "It was nice to see all of our friends again. I hadn't realized how much I missed them until I was here."

"That it was." The brunette lady said. "And everyone seemed to take everything well."

"Under the circumstances, they did. I think after so long of not seeing the Originals, everyone mellowed out towards them. Makes our lives easier, at the very least." The blonde shrugged. "Now we just have to tackle the mountain of belongings before we can go to Hawaii." She grumbled.

"I didn't think I would be in the mood for a beach anytime soon, but I am." Bonnie laughed. "Plus this will be Contessa's first vacation, right?"

"Yes, it will." Caroline smiled. "The nanny, Allison, is literally heaven-sent. I'm so glad we went ahead and decided to get one, because none of us know what to do with a child. Especially Klaus… He loves her to death, but I think it will be easier on him once Lou can walk and feed herself and communicate somewhat effectively. We're both excited for a vacation, though."

"You've been working hard, maintaining peace in the city." Bonnie agreed. "It's about time for a break."

"Only a few more days, and then we'll get one." Caroline sighed, dreaming of sunny beaches and blue water. "Just a few more days."

* * *

**AN: So, this oneshot has been sitting on my computer for ages because it literally took me forever to get it finished. And, well, it's long. this was probably the first requested oneshot that I had the muse to get done, and it's finally here! Yay!**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed my interpretation of how things would go. Please remember that it has been seven months since Caroline left with Katherine, and six since Bonnie left. The MF gang aren't idiots, and the fact that Caroline and Klaus would eventually become a thing is not a shocker to anyone. Kol and Bonnie is a little bit more of a shock, but since Jeremy seems to be the only one invested in what used to be him and Bonnie, no one cares. **

**I hope I cleared up the whole baby-name thing here, because I know a few of you were confused. The child's full name is Contessa Cornelia Louise Mikaelson, and pretty much everyone but Caroline and Rebekah calls her by her first name. Lou comes from Louise, obviously. I was going to continue this so as to encompass another person's prompt, but it got too long, so yeah.**

**Anyways, send me what you would like to see after the end of _A Tree Called Life_, and I'll try and write it! Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!**

**-Abi**


	4. christmas lights

**Title: **_christmas lights_

**Timeframe: **One year after Chapter 18 of _A Tree Called Life_

**Characters:** Main ensemble of the story, Liz Forbes, and mentions of Lachlan Sinclair and Davina Claire

* * *

Caroline walked through the old manor, a clipboard in hand, monitoring the decorating team. It was Christmas Eve, everyone was flying in tonight on the fleet of Mikaelson private jets, and she was going to have her manor perfect, thank you very much. "That mistletoe needs to be centered!" She directed the workers in the foyer. "And you two, the fake snow needs to look like it fell delicately, not lie in clumps. Oh! And you three on the stairs, I want the bows to be every third step, parallel to the floor. Got it?"

"I'm still not sure what fake snow will do. It is New Orleans, after all, love." Klaus appeared at the top of the stairs, making his way down around the decorators who were attacking his manor. "It does not exactly snow this far south."

"It's the principle of the thing. Christmas and snow go hand-in-hand. It's like… Cookies and milk. Or Thanksgiving and the Macy's Parade. Or mistletoe and kissing. They go together." She punctuated her statement with awkward hand gestures as he came beside her.

He laughed as she swatted his paint-splattered hand away from the shoulder of her white blouse. "I get it. The snow stays."

"You think I'm ridiculous." Caroline accused, eyes narrowing semi-seriously.

"I think making my entire family watch that blasted Thanksgiving Day Parade of yours was ridiculous. Fake snow I can deal with." Klaus chuckled.

"Caroline, Mr. Mikaelson, I'm heading out now." Contessa's—Klaus's eleven month-old child's—nanny, interrupted. "Contessa is down for the night."

"See you after the New Year, Annalise!" Caroline smiled, waving off the woman who had literally been a godsend to her and Klaus, considering they were both basically useless with children. Normally Annalise lived with the family, but she had the next two weeks off to spend with her family, who lived a few states away or something. "Have a good flight!"

Klaus gave the woman a goodbye wave as she headed out. "When did my siblings say they would be in?"

"Rebekah is on her way over now from Lachlan's, so she could appear at any time." Caroline started, giving Klaus a look when he gave an ungainly huff. "Oh, don't start that. Your sister is happy, and I'm damn well happy for her."

"She's with my best councilmember. And he has young children." He retorted. "It complicates things."

"Not by much. And you approved of him long before they got together. Just be glad she's not dating some frat boy like Katherine suggested." She pointed out. "And he's spending Christmas morning with his very cute and _polite _children, so it's not like they'll be over super early. Besides, you need to get used to little ones running around. Malcolm and Eleanor would make good friends for Contessa." Caroline fixed one of the stairwell bows as they walked into the lounge, where the big tree was set up. "Katherine said she would text me when she and Elijah landed—"

"Are they bringing the dog again?"

"Most likely. They're both devoted to the thing. Oh, and Bonnie called about an hour ago. She and Kol had landed, but they needed to make a stop before they got here, so they are going to be a bit longer." Caroline checked off the last thing on her clipboard as she and Klaus observed the tree. "Finally, the house is done!" She grinned.

"You have managed to work magic once again." He agreed, in awe of her organizational and decorating skills. Honestly, she managed to pull things off that no one else could.

"Call me the Decorating Fairy." The lady giggled, pulling him in for a kiss. Everything was done, and now she could spend the rest of the holiday relaxing.

"I'm gone eight hours, and you get the house fully decorated? You're a miracle worker, Caroline!" An accented voice rang out from the front of the house.

"We're back here, Rebekah!" Caroline laughed.

"I can tell. And that is one effing huge tree." Rebekah said as she looked upon the ten-foot monstrosity, covered in lights and color-coordinated ornaments.

"Well, sister, how was your evening?" Klaus asked as they moved over to the seating area. "Did you and…Lachlan exchange presents already or is that for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. I need to change though; I'm fairly sure I have frosting and sprinkles in places one should never have them." Rebekah laughed, her face lighting up. "We made cookies and Christmas cake and something called peppermint bark with the children. I have never particularly enjoyed baking, but it's apparently a Sinclair Christmas tradition, and I quite enjoyed it. And I made my first gingerbread house, which was the cause for the majority of the flying sprinkles."

"They made them for Santa, right?" Caroline asked, already knowing the answer. "I always made cookies for Santa with my dad—until he left when I was ten, that is. He was a great baker." She shrugged, smiling at the bittersweet memories. "I'm glad you had a good time." The three sat in silence for a bit, before the sound of cars pulling up the drive perked everyone up.

"And that would be the rest of our siblings, sister." Klaus stood, offering his hand to Caroline, who took it as Rebekah rose.

"Let's just hope Kol doesn't wake Contessa this time." The latter commented. "I love the darling, but not as much when she's screaming because a loudmouth woke her."

The three moved into the foyer, waiting to greet those who were, or had become, their family. And they had become a family. The unlikeliest of groups—four siblings, their once mortal enemy, and two young women who used to attempt to kill said siblings—had become family. They enjoyed seeing each other, no matter how much they would get on each other's nerves, or how many knives would be thrown at each other. Family was family.

Kol and Bonnie were the first in. Kol had his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder, Bonnie's purple paisley suitcase trailing behind him. She was dressed in a shade of blue which complimented her very nicely, and Caroline made sure to tell her exactly that. Shortly afterwards, Katherine and Elijah made their way in, the latter using his vampire speed to get their immense amount of bags up in their room before greeting everyone. Behind Katherine came her dog, who appeared to have gotten a haircut at some point or another.

It was hugs all around for a few minutes, before everyone moved to the lounge—including the dog, who promptly laid right at Katherine's feet. "You know, when I got you that animal, it was a joke." Rebekah muttered, eyeing the dog. "I didn't intend for the walking mop to become your new best friend."

"Well, you must have good taste, Rebekah, because Duchess is much better company than you have ever been." Katherine smirked.

Caroline could sense a conflict coming up between those two, so she changed the subject. "How was France?"

"The same as it was three weeks ago when you last asked me that question." The brunette deadpanned. "We spend our days riding horses and playing around in the vineyard and all sorts of things like that. It's relaxing, really."

"Where are you living anyways? I must have missed something, but for some reason I thought you two had a place in London." Bonnie interjected, genuinely curious. She may not have been entirely close with anyone other than Caroline or Kol in the house, but she was at least casually friends with them, and could make conversation. Besides, Kol had talked about going to visit his brother again, so she wouldn't mind some idea of where that visit may be.

"We both have places in London, actually." Elijah replied. "Though the one you are likely referring to is mine; Katherine and I spent time there together while searching for the cure."

"Ridiculous piece of shit that turned out to be." Kol muttered.

Elijah rolled his eyes. "Regardless of how futile that particular quest may have been, during the same span of time, Katerina found a chateau in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, and it is currently where we reside."

"Though, I've been thinking, maybe we should open up the villa in Greece. I have not been back there in some time." Katherine noted, her partner giving her a nod of agreement.

"Or we could visit your old place in Russia." He gave her a look the others couldn't quite place… And they did not particularly want to.

"The last time I was in Russia, I was a ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet, and my apartment was nothing to note." She retorted. "Unless you've suddenly acquired a taste for cheap furniture and thin walls."

"My dear, I meant the time before that."

"You want to sneak into my old rooms in the Tsarskoye Selo?" Katherine asked. "Hmm. I may be up for that. We could even recreate that Christmas Eve." She flashed him a wink, and the others began to ignore the hungry looks and shifting hands which always seemed to accompany those two.

"So, Bonnie, you never told me about where you went this most recent time." Caroline interjected.

"That would be my fault, darling." Kol laughed. "I kept it a secret from her until we landed."

"And then he kept me exceedingly busy the rest of the time there." Bonnie laughed. "We were in Haiti. Kol introduced me to some of his old friends, and I learned a lot about the voodoo culture."

"And rum." Kol laughed. "I taught her a lot about rum, as well."

"That you did. I haven't touched the stuff since." She swatted his shoulder lightly. "I had a hangover for three days. Though, I did like the crémas."

"What have I told you, darling? The best way to avoid a hangover is to keep drinking!"

"Coming from the Original Vampire who can't get a hangover."

"Actually, it's possible." Rebekah jumped in. "Caroline managed to concoct something a while back that gave me one."

"Mmmm, yeah, that one was a bitch." Katherine agreed. "So, Caroline, what have you been up to in this _lovely_ city?"

"Party-planning. Shopping. Kicking diplomatic ass. Helping Klaus restructure the entire supernatural political system. That type of stuff." Caroline shrugged. "We've managed to integrate the entire hybrid pack into the city, and we're working on the werewolves too. Also, I forged an agreement with a hospital so that any surplus blood bags they manage to get are donated to a "food pantry" of sorts that I set up, in case any vampire or hybrid doesn't want to feed fresh."

"The city loves their queen." Klaus gave a slight smile. "You have managed to do more good in this city in less than a year than I believe anyone else could have."

"Maybe I do a lot of good, but you keep the city in line. We put down that werewolf revolt two months ago, which was mainly your plan." Caroline tossed her hair as she turned to look at him. "We're both equally important in this operation, and half the time I don't even know what I'm doing. You're the one I know has my back when we're in front of all those people."

"Well, what can I say to that?" Klaus sighed, brushing a kiss to her hair.

"That's one of the downfalls of being with strong women, brother." Kol smirked. "They often leave us speechless."

"I never said dating me would be easy, dumbass." Bonnie laughed, giving her…whatever he was, a kiss.

"I never expected it to be. The first I met you, you gave me an aneurysm than brought me to my knees." He laughed.

"Well, on that happy note, I believe we're going to bed for the night." Caroline and Klaus stood. "We'll see you all in the morning!" Caroline waved as they departed to a chorus of goodnights.

"I say we leave too. It's Christmas time and all." Katherine grabbed Elijah's hand and pulled him up. "Duchess, stay." She commanded the dog. She and Elijah barely made it to the bottom of the stairs before they disappeared up, Kol's warning to "Stay quiet because some of us around here like sleep!" falling into the empty air.

Bonnie and Kol spent some more time in front of the Christmas tree, before they too eventually headed to bed. Tomorrow was Christmas morning, after all, and it would do to have some sleep before they had an eventful day. If it was anything like last Christmas—and it was Contessa's first—there would be dancing, food, mistletoe, and presents. Last year's was fun enough, but Bonnie could not help but think that this year's would be even better. After all, she was much happier than she had ever been, and she felt like she had a place she belonged. Yeah, Bonnie was thinking that tomorrow may just be her best Christmas yet.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Christmas Morning found the Mikaelsons and Company asleep. Or, most of them were asleep. Caroline had brought Contessa into her and Klaus's bedroom shortly after dawn, and they spent a few lazy hours just talking with each other about their lives. Caroline had adjusted quite well to what she called "fun stepmother-hood", even if she knew that dynamic would obviously shift over the next few years. After all, she would be the mother Contessa knew, even with a full-time nanny present. Klaus, on the other hand, was as gentle with his daughter as Caroline knew he would be, and as he had never believed he possibly could be. Needless to say, his daughter had drawn them closer together as people—because they had been forced to communicate about things—rather than force them apart.

By the time everyone made it downstairs for Christmas…Brunch, Katherine was nearly glowing, Caroline was perky as ever, Kol was asleep at the table, and Rebekah found it quite fun to stick candy canes in her brother's hair. Bonnie had considered stopping her, but Kol's expression when he woke up would be priceless. Besides, she could consider it payback for his keeping her up all night by the light of his laptop screen.

"Since we didn't get started until late, I've pushed dinner back until five thirty instead of four thirty. Also, once we finish eating we have a couple of hours to do whatever until Rebekah's and Bonnie's guests arrive, as well as my mother, who will need to be picked up at the airport around three. Presents are for after Christmas Dinner, and then I figured we could take the children around town to see any Christmas lights." Caroline ran over the day's agenda.

"Actually," Rebekah looked up from decorating her brother. "Lachlan and I took the kids around town last night, so that's out. And it's not like Lou could actually recognize what they are."

"Hmmm…" Caroline sighed. "Alright then, I'm sure we can find something else to do."

"We'll figure something out." Bonnie smiled as she took a picture of Kol before poking him to wake him up. His subsequent facial expression upon seeing said photograph—and horror when his hand went to his hair and came away with a sticky piece of candy cane—sent laughter around the entire table, and Rebekah running for her life.

* * *

"Caroline, your mom's here!" Katherine called out from the foyer. She had only met the Sheriff of Mystic Falls once beforehand, but she had heard enough about the woman from Caroline. "Liz. I suppose it's nice to see you."

"Katherine. I suppose I can say the same, now that you aren't terrorizing my town." Liz followed the much-older young lady through the manor.

"Please." The brunette smirked. "That was everyone else in the house, not me. I just terrorized those who annoyed me, not the entire town." She led the way into the kitchen where Caroline was ordering Kol, Rebekah, and Bonnie around the kitchen as they attempted to make dinner. Contessa was playing in one of those portable crib thingies by the door, banging blocks together, and Katherine's dog was laying underneath the table. "Klaus and Elijah are out grabbing… Something. I don't particularly care, either. Caroline sent them off."

"Mom!" Caroline looked up from the dish she was attempting to make and rushed over, grabbing Liz in a hug. "How are you? How was your flight?"

"It was nice, Caroline. Everything went fine. Honestly, you didn't need to send a plane to get me. I could have flown normally." Liz hugged her daughter back before pulling away.

"Nonsense. It was easier this way, especially considering Klaus's plane was just sitting there." Caroline shrugged.

"Hi Liz." Bonnie smiled, coming over to hug her third mother-of-sorts. "It's great to see you again."

"And you too, Bonnie! You seem to be getting happier and happier every time I see you!" Liz smiled, before nodding to the other members of the room. "Kol, Rebekah. Good to see you."

Before either of the siblings could make a sassy retort, Caroline scooped up Contessa, who was dressed in a charming red and green dress with a matching bow stuck in what little hair she had. "Mom, meet Contessa Mikaelson, though most of us around here call her Lou, after one of her middle names."

"She's very cute." Liz nodded, touching the hand of the chubby-cheeked, blue-eyed toddler. "And much sweeter than I believed she would be."

"Please, we were all darling children." Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Maybe it was a thousand years ago, but it happened once."

"Except you, Bekah." Kol laughed, his hair blessedly candy-free. "You were a holy terror as a baby. You screamed constantly."

"How would you know? You were all of Lou's age when I was born." Rebekah crossed her arms, throwing flour into a bowl with more force than necessary.

"He's quite right, sister. You were a disaster of a child." Klaus interjected from the doorway, where he and Elijah were laden with bags, a certain witch named Davina behind them. Said witch moved to hug Bonnie and Kol, who had become her family over the past year. "Kol, you were worse though. You made things burst into flame whenever you were hungry."

"Well, if I remember correctly," Elijah said. "The only decent child of the entire lot of us was Henrik, considering you rivaled Rebekah with your screaming, Niklaus."

"Seems like not much has changed since then." Caroline smirked as she kissed Klaus on the cheek, swapping him the baby for the bags as he went to greet her mother. "And Bekah, I would get that flour out of your hair. If I can still hear correctly, the Sinclair's just pulled into the driveway." She turned to her mother as Rebekah left the room and Bonnie caught up with her friend. "The girl with Bonnie is Davina—I think I've told you about her before. And Rebekah's greeting Lachlan Sinclair and his two children. Lachlan's a representative on Klaus and I's main council, and he and Rebekah are a thing."

"Sounds like you stay busy around here." Liz commented, taking in her daughter's strangely adult life.

"Caroline's talents are put to good use, here." Klaus said. "She's a very important person, both within this household and the city."

The rest of the evening moved fairly swiftly. Dinner went off perfectly, as Caroline's affairs often did, and no one was stabbed, which was a miracle with the four Mikaelsons at one table. When it came time for presents, no one died, though Kol came close when Bonnie unwrapped her gift of lingerie in front of everyone. However, she was mollified when he presented her with her actual gift of theater tickets and a new/old grimoire. Caroline quite liked the painting Klaus gave her, though she kept some of the sketches he included in the gift from her mother's view, as they were…somewhat provocative. He, on the other hand, was intrigued when Caroline gave him his gift of a trip to Belize, the agenda of which mostly consisted of the items 'Try local cuisine' and 'Sex'. Katherine and Elijah both seemed happy, even if neither of them particularly celebrated the holiday, Rebekah was practically glowing in her happy bubble with Lachlan, and Davina nearly cried when she found out her gift from Kol and Bonnie: a spot in any college she wished to attend, anywhere in the world. It was perfect for someone who was just looking to get out of New Orleans and the terror it reminded her of.

Overall, Caroline found this to be the perfect Christmas. She was happy, and her life was lovely. She and Klaus were better than they were last Christmas, which, to be honest, did not take all that much. Her mom had come to visit, even if she was clearly a bit uncomfortable around everyone; which, alright, was understandable. She had friends—Katherine and Rebekah—that she had never expected to have, and she was even on good terms with Elijah and Kol, which she never would have expected. Caroline was also delighted to see Bonnie happy, which to be frank, was not happening in Mystic Falls. Her best friend had grown in ways she never would have expected, and it really was perfect.

Thinking back to last Christmas, where the highlight was when she pecked Klaus's cheek under the mistletoe before dragging him out to dance, Caroline laid her head on her partner's shoulder and sighed happily. Two years ago, she would have laughed if someone had told her this would be her life. Last year, she would have smiled at the thought of it, and hoped it would be possible. Now, she only looked forward to what the future would bring.

* * *

**AN: So, this is technically up on the 26th where I am, but Merry Belated Christmas, everyone! I tried to finish this up to get it posted on time, but well, I was busy too, haha. ****Anyways, I know I disappeared for forever and a day, but school wore me into the ground this past semester, and I've been working on both a Kalijah prequel to ATCL (which is nearly done), as well as an original novel, so I haven't finished any of the three oneshots that I have partially done for this story... Whoops. **

**Anyways, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and/or a Happy Hanukkah or a even just a great week, if you don't celebrate anything! And to those of you who celebrate Kwanzaa, I wish you a happy one!**

**-Abi**


	5. cry, little brother

**Title: **_cry, little brother_

**Timeline: **February 14, 2013, so one year and a month or so after the end of _ATCL_

**Characters:** Kol and Katherine, with heavy implications of Kalijah and the Kolijah relationship

* * *

It had been a long time since there was a blowup of this magnitude in the Mikaelson-Pierce-Bennett-Forbes house. Needless to say, the Mikaelson portion of said household did not do anything by halves, and when they argued, it was nearly enough to bring the block down. However, there was something…different about this particular fight that Katherine could not quite put her finger on. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Caroline had been running errands at the time of said fight, getting ready for the party that evening the crazy blonde had the whole household up-in-arms over. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Contessa and her nanny were at the park that morning, so there was no reason to keep their voices at a semi-normal pitch. Maybe it had partially to do with Bonnie was catching breakfast with Davina that morning, as they had not seen each other in some time, what with Davina busy at Tulane and Bonnie traveling. Maybe it was just because the Mikaelson siblings had terrible communication skills and a lot of pent-up anger and resentment.

Yeah… That last one was the most likely.

Either way, when Katherine was in the middle of her morning coffee, her empath senses picked up a lot of anger from across the house, and the raised voices managed to register even on her now-shitty hearing. Never one to miss a good fight, she naturally went to go check. Unfortunately she walked in on the tail end of said argument, but due to an angry Kol nearly barreling her over as she walked into the lounge and three very stricken Originals scattered around the room, it did not take much deduction to figure out who the subject of the fight was.

"What on earth happened in here?" Katherine asked, her eyes darting between an angered Klaus, a morose Rebekah, and…Elijah. Elijah who had a look about him that she had hoped to never see again.

"You know the date." Elijah reclined back into his chair, sipping a glass of what looked like scotch. "It's been two years, and the first we've spent together. Things were said. Accusations were made. My brother seems to believe we did not—do not—care."

"This is ridiculous." She scoffed, her hands finding her hips. "He doesn't understand. He may have been the one who died, but he wasn't the one who grieved. He didn't get an earth-shattering phone call in the middle of the night."

"Wait a second. That was you, whoring around with Elijah, when I called?" Klaus interjected, as if he was trying to decide whether or not he should be shocked or disgusted by this revelation.

"Don't you kiss your daughter with that mouth, Captain Obvious?" The brunette rolled her eyes before turning to exit. She had an Original to go set in his place.

Of course, it was not very difficult to find Kol, considering all she had to do was look out the kitchen window and see him sitting out in the gardens. There weren't many places one could hide in the manor, after all, and his car was still in the garage, which she checked first. "What, are you here to yell at me as well?" Kol asked as she walked outside. Sometimes, Katherine could swear these ancient vampires acted like teenagers. Especially Kol and Rebekah. Then again, they were technically both teenagers when they died, so that explained a bit.

"I'm here to tell you you're being an ass." When he raised an eyebrow, giving her a look, Katherine rolled her eyes. "Don't think anything of it. Someone needs to when Bonnie isn't here. Besides, you were out of line."

"Right. Because you're _such_ an expert on my siblings."

"I am on Elijah."

"Of course you are, darling." Kol's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Because hooking up a few dozen times a couple of years ago makes you such an expert."

"You would be surprised how many times two people can run into each other over the course of three hundred-plus years." Well, that certainly gained Kol's attention. She and Elijah's interactions during the time he was supposed to be hating her were not necessarily public knowledge, after all. "Besides, I know what today is."

"So you stuck around long enough then. I wasn't sure you had the depths of emotion in you, Kitty Kat." Kol said grimly.

"Klaus called us about half after midnight, London time. It was around seven in the evening in Mystic Falls, still Valentine's Day." Katherine began her story. "Elijah and I were…blissful. We spent the day in bed, flirting and drinking and laughing. That day was one of the happiest in my life." She smiled at the memories of her and her lover rolling around in bed like two juveniles, happy and free together. "Anyways, Klaus called with the news that you had been killed, and everything changed. I cannot pretend to know how Klaus or Rebekah reacted, but you cannot say Elijah did not care about your death." Kol opened his mouth in order to give what was probably a snappy retort, but Katherine cut him off. "He was devastated, Kol."

"My brother does not grieve. In the thousand years since we turned, I have only known him to show two emotions: mild anger, and mild happiness. He is unshakably steadfast in not feeling anything more."

"Then you know your brother a great deal less than you should. He tempers his feelings as a way to balance out the fiery passion the rest of you can never seem to reign in. I can only claim to have met Mikael on one occasion—in which I blew up his minions; it was quite delightful—but I believe Elijah takes after him more than your mother. He compartmentalizes as a way to do the hard things." Katherine sighed.

"And how is this relevant to our conversation?"

"After Klaus called us, your brother came undone. He was…unlike I had ever seen him before. He grieved for you. He grieved terribly." She studied the gardens around them, lost in the memory of that horrid time. "He left me, because of his grief over you."

Now that caught Kol's attention, even if he masked it under indifference. "How did that come about?"

"I fed Jeremy Gilbert to Silas after I heard about his part in your death." She gave him a half-smile. "Don't think it means anything; I did it for Elijah, and I was going to tell him after we were reunited. That was the plan at least, to reunite. I was going to take a few weeks and hide while Elijah handled a situation in Vienna, and then we were going to confront Klaus. However, Vienna ended up taking two months, and by the time we actually were reunited, I had forgotten that Elijah was still under the illusion that it was the Salvatores who killed you."

"Seriously?" Kol crossed his arms, looking unimpressed.

"Blame Klaus. He wasn't exactly very specific as to which set of siblings in Mystic Falls had done it. The natural assumption was the Salvatores." Katherine said. "Anyways, to make the long story slightly shorter, Elijah got pissed that I was party to the death of someone's else's brother mere hours after we heard about yours. That maybe I had just been lying when I helped him through his initial grief. He confronted me, I tried to make him stay, and it didn't work."

"And so he left you, and you gave him the cure."

"And so he left me, and I gave him the cure." She reiterated before sighing. "I'm really not the best to be doing this, and god knows I'd rather be sipping a Mai Tai right now,"

"You make me feel so loved, Kitty Kat…" Kol rolled his eyes.

"Shut up and listen." Katherine scolded. "I get that whatever fraternal feelings you have left towards the rest of your semi-emotionally-stunted family are injured. Trust me, if there's anyone that can complain about being screwed over by their family, it's me. But it's been two years, and I'd like to think that all of us living in this house have grown a bit since then. Plus, they did grieve for you—Elijah certainly did, and I've heard Klaus bit Caroline in a fit of blind grief and rage after she and her boyfriend tried to move your body out of his sight. So, get over yourself. Untwist your panties, or whatever it is Caroline would say, and go fix this mess with the rest of them so that Elijah and I can go salsa dancing tonight."

Kol stood up, ruffling the back of his hair. "You know, you're pretty much a bitch."

She laughed as she stood as well and they headed back inside. "I may be a bitch, but you're an ass."

* * *

**AN: I meant to upload this a few days ago with the latest _The Taste of Blood and Wine_ update as they go together, but life sort of got in the way! **

**Anyways, I hope you all like it! I've had this one sitting on my computer unfinished for a while, simply because it took me forever to both make the time to write and figure out how to write this. I'd been wanting to explore the Koltherine relationship for a long time since it was never really touched upon in ATCL, and while they have interactions in TToBaW, it's nothing like this.**

**So, tell me what you all think, and if you want more Katherine and Elijah and haven't read it, go check out my other story, ****_The Taste of Blood and Wine_! The final chapter goes up Wednesday, and it has pretty much been one of my favorite things to write ever!**

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, and for those of you who celebrate, have a Happy Easter Sunday tomorrow!**

**-Abi**


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